


Only Love Can Break Your Heart

by captainamergirl



Category: The Bold and the Beautiful
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Changing things up!, F/M, Gen, Late 2015 and beyond, Post-Aly's tragic death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2020-11-15 01:57:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20858339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainamergirl/pseuds/captainamergirl
Summary: A different take on things. Or, interconnected Bold and the Beautiful one shots. Basically, whatcouldhave been.





	1. Maxie

**Author's Note:**

> This series picks up in late 2015 with some alterations. I started writing this one shot series after being so unhappy with the show killing my beloved Aly Forrester. Anyway, I hope you like this.
> 
> This first one shot has Wyatt meeting a new love interest. I picture "Maxie" being played by actress/model, Denyse Tontz!

**Maxie**  
  
Ivy and I recently broke up. I think I always knew it was about revenge – on her part anyway. I really did care about her though – at least I think I did. After Hope pretty much ground my heart into the dust, I got so turned around that I really wasn’t sure of anything.  
  
I have decided to stay away from relationships for awhile – maybe forever. Sure a guy has needs and I’ve been taking a hell of a lot of cold showers lately, but blue balls are preferable to being figuratively kicked in the teeth, stomach and nads every time I think about getting close to a woman. Staying away from the opposite sex – well, I know it’s for the best. I need only look at the disaster and heartache so-called “love” has caused in the people I know to know that I need to stay clear of it. For example, my brother Liam and his girlfriend Steffy are on the outs – she’s too busy drinking all of the time to pay attention to Liam and we know how he hates to be ignored. My cousin Caroline is six months pregnant with the baby daughter of her soon-to-ex-husband’s eldest son. Even my mom and Deacon are having problems. His first wife Bridget is back in town and Mom is convinced that if they aren’t already dicking around, they will be soon. Trying to stop my Mom from turning homicidal (again!) and running a new business keeps me busy anyway. Who needs a relationship? Not me. And yet here I am thinking about romance anyway. _Pathetic._  
  
I move quietly through the office, sipping on a cup of black coffee. It’s early yet and no one else appears to be here. No one but Oliver anyway who is busy snap-snap-snapping pictures in the lab. Yes, we managed to lure him away from Forrester. He actually deserved better and we needed him.  
  
I figure Oliver is doing test shots of fruit or something – that is until I hear a female voice. A female voice that sounds so smooth and soft – like melted chocolate.  
  
“Am I doing okay?” She asks, making me pause in my tracks.  
  
“Yeah, you’re a natural. These shots – the bosses are going to love them,” Oliver replies.  
  
“Thanks,” she says. There is noticeable uncertainty in her silky voice. “I really would love to book a modeling job with the Spencers' new fashion house. Everyone is talking about this place. I appreciate you doing my headshots. Are you sure you won’t get in trouble with your bosses?”  
  
“Typically the top dog Bill would have my head on a platter for using company equipment to do this but once he sees these proofs … Trust me, you’re going to knock his socks clean off.”  
  
She’s probably blushing, I think. I don’t even know what she looks like but I bet she has a cute blush. Wait – why am I standing here eavesdropping? It isn’t my place to do so and yet … I do own part of this company so…  
  
Before I can stop myself, I am knocking on the door, poking my head in the room. “Hey,” I say to Oliver and then turn to face the girl. I want to say something but my tongue has just hit the floor. She’s – she’s gorgeous! Twenty years old or thereabouts, wearing a simple, pale cotton dress that hugs a slender, perfect body. She has long, sexy legs and her face … God, her face! It’s – I can’t even describe it but I guess angelic might work. She’s flawless, wearing minimal makeup and she has these plump ruby red lips that ask to be kissed. She has soft brown hair and these cute bangs that pull to the right of her face. Her eyes are a beautiful deep blue. My god. I am staring. Hell, I am drooling. _Get a hold of yourself, Man. Stop gawking._  
  
I rip my eyes off of her and plant them firmly on Oliver. Oliver stares back at me with a knowing smirk. “Wyatt, sorry we’re using company resources here but Maxie is just what this company needs, wouldn’t you say?”  
  
I can’t say because I still can’t speak. My tongue is stuck hanging out of my mouth but God bless Maxie, she pretends not to notice.  
  
“Anyway, I should introduce you two,” Oliver says. “Wyatt, Maxie Hart. Maxie, Wyatt Spencer.”  
  
“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Spencer,” she says. She holds out her hand to me and I just stare at it for a long moment.  
  
“Uh, nice to meet you too,” I finally manage. “And it’s Wyatt. Mr. Spencer is my father.”  
  
“I hope you’re not angry about me being here,” Maxie says. “Oliver was just-“  
  
“It’s totally fine,” I say and finally I reach for her hand to give it a shake. My palms are sweaty and I feel like a twelve year old boy as our fingers meet.  
  
The moment she pulls away, I feel like something’s missing inside of me. And that’s when I realize I am completely entranced by this girl. I’m back into the romance game in a second. I want Maxie. I want her a lot. Is there a way I can make her mine? No matter; I sure as hell am going to try to win her heart. I think she already has mine.


	2. Dear Rick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is an angsty one so fair warning!

**Dear Rick**  
  
Spring was in the air. Maya felt hopeful and happy as for a long moment, she watched the sun settling in the bright blue, morning sky. Then with a bright smile on her face, she climbed out of the Rolls and headed inside Dayzee’s coffee shop. Right away she was hit with memories of the first time she and Rick had met. She had been singing about her broken heart and he’d been sitting there looking so damned handsome and sincere. She had been down and out on her luck back then, but all it took was Rick’s unending love to turn her life around. Twisting her wedding band round and round on her finger, she smiled brighter. Look at how far she’d come. Things were better than they’d ever been and she knew any moment now she and Rick might find out that her little sister was pregnant with their long-awaited child.  
  
Still smiling like a dope, she got on line to get order two espressos for her and Rick to enjoy over breakfast. As she was waiting in the long line, her cell phone suddenly rang in her handbag. She quickly withdrew it from the pocket and saw Rick’s number flashing across the screen, as if her thoughts of him had conjured him up on her phone.  
  
“Hey, baby,” she greeted him as she put the cell to her ear.  
  
“Hey there, Maya. And speaking of baby…” Rick’s happy voice greeted her ears. “I think you’d better get back to the house right away.”  
  
Maya squealed. “No! It’s happened?” She danced from foot to foot in excitement.  
  
“Nicole just came out of her room and said she had some important news for the both of us, so yeah, I think it’s happened!”  
  
“Ohmigod! _Ohmigod!_ I’m going to be a mother. Are you as excited as I am right now?”  
  
“Definitely.”  
  
“God, I can’t wait to see you two. Tell Nicole I’m getting coffee and then I’ll be right there.”  
  
“Forget the coffee, sweetheart. We have coffee here. This can’t wait.”  
  
“You’re right, it can’t. This trumps all. See you in ten,” Maya said and disconnected the phone. Tucking it back into her purse, she whirled around and started for the door.  
  
She was almost to the exit when the door opened. She immediately sucked in a shaky breath as she spotted her father now standing not five feet away. They hadn’t seen each other in some time - her choice – and now here he was, smack dab in the middle of what could potentially be the most amazing day of her life.  
  
“I don’t want to fight,” Maya said right away. She tried to sidestep him but he blocked her path.  
  
Julius ignored her words. “Are you and Rick responsible for Nicole ignoring your mother and me for weeks?”  
  
“Gee, I’ve missed you too,” Maya said facetiously. “But FYI here. Nicole has a mind of her own; if she wants to talk to you, she will. She’s been busy so-“ Maya instinctively knew that she had said too much as she watched her father’s nostrils flare.  
  
“Tell me that you’ve all given up on the insane notion of having a child together like some kind of twisted ménage à trois.”  
  
Maya glared at him; her perfectly wonderful mood slipping away. “Twisted ménage à trois. Are you kidding me? There is nothing twisted about this but no, we Rick and I haven’t given up on the idea of bringing a beautiful baby into a _loving_ home.”  
  
“A loving home? Is that what you call that den of sickness and sin?”  
  
“I’m not doing this – not now, not ever again,” Maya said and shoved past him. Stubborn man that he was, he gave chase, following her right out onto the busy sidewalk. He grabbed her by the arm to pull her a stop.  
  
“You won’t, Maya. You will _not_ let Nicole, my little girl, be involved in something like this.”  
  
“Your little girl. Guess what, Father? I am your daughter too and yet you act like-“  
  
“You’re _not_ a girl!” Julius thundered. “Never was, never will be.” They were drawing looks from passersby and Maya almost wanted to sink into the cracks of the concrete but then reminded herself, she was far too strong for that now. She was not some wilting flower. She would not be belittled; she would not be pushed around.  
  
“I am a girl – no, I’m a woman, every bit as much as my sister,” Maya snapped. “Just accept who I am or get the hell out of my life!”  
  
“You’re not a girl – you’re certainly not a woman either. You’re – you’re an abomination! A sick freak,” Julius thundered.  
  
Maya blanched. She felt as if she had been sucker-punched in the gut by her father’s cruel words and all she could do was lash out at him in return.  
  
Before she could stop herself, Maya had thrown out her hand and landed a hard _smack!_ to Julius’s cheek. She expected to feel triumphant or at least vindicated, but at the moment, all she felt was sick.  
  
She heard gasps coming from all around them. People had literally stopped in the street to gawk at them. A man was videotaping the whole thing on his smart phone. Maya wanted to throw up but she didn’t. It was Julius rather who looked like the ill one. His skin had gone pale and he was sputtering unintelligibly. He then clutched his chest and weaved on his feet.  
  
Maya immediately reached for him but it was too late. His eyes had rolled back in his head and he went sailing down to the pavement.   
  
Maya screamed and screamed. She didn’t know if she would ever stop screaming.  
  
XoXoXo  
  
**_Three days later …_**  
  
“Dammit,” Rick cursed as he drew back the curtain and saw a whole team of paparazzi camped out on the front lawn of the Forrester estate. “Don’t those blood-thirsty vultures ever get tired of stalking us? It’s been three days and they don’t appear to be going anywhere.” He looked over at Maya, who sat rigidly on the bed with her hands folded in her lap. “Are you alright?” He asked. "Wait, who am I kidding? Of course you’re not. After what you went through –“ He broke off as he moved to her and pulled her into his arms.  
  
Maya looked at him sadly. “Of course the press is out there. What I did – it went viral on YouTube for god’s sake.”  
  
“What do you mean _what you did?_ This isn’t your fault.”  
  
“Try telling that to my mother.” Her voice cracked. “She and my sister are burying my father today because – because of me.”   
  
Rick shook his head adamantly. “No, don’t say that. You heard the doctors – Julius died because he didn’t take care of himself; because for years he sustained on a diet of bacon and bitterness.”  
  
“Rick, I provoked him…”  
  
“Baby, you did not. He attacked you remember? He called you all sorts of nasty names.”  
  
“That was no excuse for hitting him.”  
  
“Hey, I would have done the same thing in your position and I would not feel guilty about it, not one bit. Everyone knows that it wasn’t your fault he died; no one blames you so stop blaming yourself.”  
  
“I’ll try,” Maya said but she knew she wouldn’t. Her mother and sister were laying her father to rest today because she couldn’t keep her temper in check. So Rick may say that no one blamed her but it was enough that she blamed herself.  
  
Maya yawned. “You tired?” Rick asked, cupping her face in his hands.  
  
“Yeah. I think – I think I just need a little time to myself; to clear my head and rest.”  
  
“Okay,” Rick said.  
  
Maya leaned in and gave her husband a long, slow, lingering kiss. A kiss to memorize each other by. “Please know how much I love you; how much I always will,” she said as fresh tears wet her face.  
  
“Of course. I feel the same way,” Rick said, kissing her back, tasting her salty tears on her lips. "Now get some sleep alright? I’ll be right downstairs if you need me.”  
  
“Alright,” Maya said. She watched him go, listening for the click of the door closing before she climbed shakily to her feet.  
  
She moved to the closet and pulled down a small Louis Vuitton suitcase from the top shelf. Then she began to pack.  
  
Tears streamed down her face as she placed a few blouses and pairs of pants inside the suitcase. She also slipped in a pair of tennis shoes and then zipped the bag closed.  
  
She would have to go out the back way to avoid Rick and the paparazzi. She just had one more thing left to do.  
  
She moved to the desk along the far wall in the bedroom and quickly took out a pen and pad of paper from the drawer. Then she began to write.  
  
_Dear Rick… _


	3. Do You Like Jazz?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Special note: Margo Ivey is played by actress Nafessa Williams.

** Do You Like Jazz? **   
  
After losing the woman you love, a man can lose his confidence too; his mojo. That’s exactly what happened to me. I have been looking for a good woman ever since the breakup with Maya, but have yet to find her. Hell, I thought Maya was that perfect woman but she never loved me – at least not like she does Rick anyway.   
  
Speaking of Rick, why is he stomping around Forrester today with a huge rain cloud over his head? He’s been barking at the staff and his family members too. At noon time when I’m working out at the Sky Lounge, he tries to snap at me – going on about how shouldn’t I be earning my paycheck instead of doing curls with the free weights? I calmly reply that it’s my lunch break and that he needs to stand down. To my surprise, he shuts up on the whole matter. He sinks into a chair nearby and just stares dejectedly out at the blue sky. I haven’t seen Maya in days – not since the Youtube incident with her father – so I imagine his mood has something to do with her. Call me a glutton for punishment or just stupid, but I have to know what’s going on here.   
  
I set down the free weights, wipe my sweaty chest and neck down with a hand towel, and then move over to Rick. “You are obviously having a bad day.”   
  
Rick glares at me. “Let me stop you right there. How my day is going is none of your damn business. If you’re hanging around, sniffing for information about Maya-“   
  
So this  _is_ about Maya. “I’m not,” I say. And it’s somewhat true. Maybe. “I just want to know what bug crawled up your butt.”   
  
“Why is it any of your business?” Rick snaps. “Right now I don’t want to talk to you or anyone else either.”   
  
“Okay, fair enough, but I’ve got good listening ears. They’re pretty big so if you ever need to unload-"   
  
“I won’t. Goodbye, Carter,” Rick says and stomps to the elevators.   
  
I shake my head and look at my watch. I’ve got exactly fifteen minutes to take a shower, rinse off this grime, and book it to a corporate meeting with Ridge.   
  
I head downstairs and take a hot shower, trying to soap away all of my cares. When I come out of the shower with a towel looped around my waist, I am shocked to find Rick sitting there, waiting for me.   
  
“Rick-“   
  
“You said if I needed to talk, you’d listen,” Rick said.   
  
I nod. “Yeah, but I just kind of expected myself to be a little more dressed then.”   
  
“Fine, I’ll turn around,” Rick says. He turns to face the wall. I see his shoulders are stiff, ramrod straight, and then they slump.    
  
“What’s going on?” I ask as I towel myself dry, pop open my locker, and reach for my boxer briefs.   
  
“It’s Maya,” Rick said. “I am sure you know about what happened with Julius.”   
  
“Yeah, of course I do. Everyone in the office is worried about Maya. I tried calling her even to check on her, but my calls went straight to voicemail every single time.”   
  
“She wasn’t taking calls. She was too upset and with the vulture-media hounding her… She couldn’t take it anymore... She couldn’t, so she walked out.”   
  
“Walked out?”   
  
Rick nods. “She left me a letter – this letter –“ he withdraws it from his suit pocket – “and then she disappeared. I haven’t seen her in five days. I’ve been looking for her, but she’s nowhere to be found. Dammit!”   
  
“I’m sorry, man. Truly. But Maya – she loves you. You know when the smoke clears, she will be coming back to you. You’re starting a family soon.”   
  
Rick laughs bitterly. “We already have. I found out the procedure finally took. Nicole is pregnant.”   
  
_“Damn.”_   
  
“Yeah, my thoughts exactly. So this baby we were planning for, he or she will have no mother.”   
  
“That’s not true.”   
  
“Well, I sure as hell am not raising this baby with Maya’s sister. It would feel fucking wrong.”   
  
“Maya will be back. She wouldn’t leave you for good.”   
  
“Her letter says otherwise.” He holds it out to me. “Read it.”   
  
“No. That’s personal, private –“   
  
“You’re not the least bit curious what she has to say?”   
  
“No,” I lie.   
  
“Well she mentioned you in it. Maybe that will make you curious enough to read it.”   
  
“This is awkward, Rick,” I say even while I pathetically reach for the letter. I unfold it. Its two pages long – or short. How can she sum up a lifetime in so few words? The whole letter makes me sad but the hardest part is the two sentences in which Maya mentions me. I read those lines aloud, feeling my throat tighten.  _“And please tell Carter that he’ll always be my friend and that I’ll miss him too. Tell him to find someone who will cherish him the way that he deserves."_   
  
I don’t know why she took the time to mention me, but she did and my chest sort of hurts. “Rick, I don’t know what to say, man. Just don’t give up looking for her. Maya is your wife and her leaving, it’s just got to be temporary. She can’t mean all of this stuff.”   
  
“I think she does,” Rick says. “She’s never coming home. I loved her more than life itself and she walked away. I don’t understand how she could do that.”   
  
I sigh. “Me either, brother, me either.”   
  
Xoxoxo   
  
I am quiet all through the corporate meeting with Ridge. A couple of times I am called on the carpet for, in Ridge’s words, “daydreaming”. If only this was a daydream, instead of a nightmare.   
  
The meeting wraps up after nearly two hours – the longest two hours of my life. Ridge comes at me, saying I need to get my head in the game. I could try explaining what’s going on but it won’t change anything. Much as I like Ridge and consider him to be a friend, nothing is more important to him than his company. Maya leaving Rick means nothing to him. At least it won’t until he realizes Maya, his lead model, isn’t on bereavement leave anymore; she left town. I can’t be the one to tell him right now – not when my nerves feel raw.   
  
Ridge grumbles and stomps out of the room after reminding me that those contracts need to be on his desk by morning. As if I could forget. I will be here tonight burning the midnight oil as usual because there is no one to go home to. Hasn’t been in ages either, ever since my “roomie” dumped me. I am not angry about it anymore; not bitter either, just pretty sad. My father always says a man isn’t meant to go through life alone, that it’s not natural, but I don’t exactly have many options at the moment. I have a good job and people say I’m nice and reasonably attractive so where are all the single ladies hiding out?   
  
I carry my stuff to the door, not really paying attention to where I am going. Not until I feel my body connect with a smaller one and hear a screech of protest. I immediately grab for the woman, dropping all of my files in time to catch her.   
  
“Carter,  _what the hell?”_ The woman says and I look down from my six-foot-plus height to see one of our models standing there with her hands on her trim hips. She’s about two feet shorter than I am, petite, very attractive. I occasionally have run into her in the hallways but never literally. I wasn’t even sure she knew my name.   
  
“Sorry, Margo,” I say, testing her name out on my tongue.   
  
She rolls her eyes. “You better apologize to the boss because your big feet are standing on my dress, getting it all dirty. This is one of his couture gowns for the fall line. He’ll go postal.”   
  
I quickly back up and see that sure enough, my hooves have left two black smudges on the clean, crisp emerald green material. Ridge will go ballistic for sure - unless I can do damage control real fast.   
  
“Hold on,” I say. “I’ll call in reinforcements.”   
  
Margo nods. “Well hurry.”   
  
XoXoxo   
  
Half an hour later, the crisis has been averted. I got Caroline, Ridge’s ex, to help. She managed to cut away the dirty fabric and perfectly sew on a new, matching piece. There is no way Ridge will ever know it was messed up in the first place. It pays to have friends in high places.   
  
Caroline leaves clutching her full belly after I’ve thanked her about twenty times. I turn to look at Margo who is admiring herself in the mirror. I must say the sister looks damned good. She catches me staring at her and smiles.   
  
“You’re a big oaf, you know that.”   
  
“I do,” I admit, smiling back.   
  
She keeps looking at me, the skin around her impossibly brown eyes crinkled in a new smile. “Caroline saved the day.”   
  
“She has a gift.”   
  
“But… You helped,” Margo said, almost begrudgingly.   
  
“How? I was the one to muddy up your pretty dress in the first place.”   
  
“True, but at least you figured out how to fix it somehow,” Margo said.   
  
“I had to or my ass would have been on the line.”   
  
“Mine too.”   
  
“Ridge couldn’t blame you for my clumsiness.”   
  
“Have you met the man? Yes he could, and yes he would.”   
  
“Come on, he’s a good friend of mine.”   
  
“Looks like you need to get some new friends.”   
  
“That’s your employer you’re talking about, you know, the one who pays your bills.”   
  
“Doesn’t mean I have to like him or his conceited kids.”   
  
“You and Thomas the player had a thing awhile back, didn't you?”   
  
She crosses her arms. “A  _long_ while back,” Margo says. “He used me up and spit me out for that little girl Hope Logan.”   
  
“Well, they have a long history.”   
  
“Yeah as step brother and sister. It’s freaking weird. When I make it as an actress, I will never look back at this place.”   
  
I shake my head. This woman is exasperating. Then again, I suppose most young twenty-something’s are. I probably was. “You’re going to make it big in pictures, huh?” I smile.   
  
“Hell yes.”   
  
“The next Halle?”   
  
“Hell no. I’m better than her.”   
  
“Cocky.”   
  
“No, I’m confidant. Why be ashamed of my skills?”   
  
I wonder what other skills she’s got. I smile as she turns around to face me and I get a good look at her cleavage. She’s small up top but perky, something I love in a woman even though I’m typically more of an ass man.   
  
Wait, I am checking out a twenty-four year old? Damn, I am hard up. And yet, the words in Maya’s letter come back to me. She wants me to be happy; she wants me to find someone for myself. Maybe Margo won’t be my soulmate but what if I asked her out? What if I finally snagged myself a pretty lady?   
  
She notices I’m still staring. “Enjoying the view?”   
  
“If I said I was, you’d probably slap me.”   
  
“Maybe, maybe not.”   
  
“Well of course I like what I see, Miss Ivey. You are very beautiful.”   
  
She laughs. “Now I know you say that to all the girls… How long has it been though since that line actually worked though?”   
  
“Ages,” I admit with a laugh of my own.   
  
“I can tell,” Margo says. “Since you’re rusty in the pickup department, I’ll make this easy on you. Yes, I’ll go out with you.”   
  
“How did you know I was going to ask?”   
  
“Women’s intuition. And maybe, just maybe, I want you to.”   
  
“Hmm well maybe, just maybe, we’ll have a good time… Do you like jazz?”   
  
“I do,” Margo says. “Just because I’m young, doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate some good rhythms.”   
  
“There is actually a new jazz club uptown. Do you want to go?”   
  
“With you?”   
  
“Ha ha.”   
  
“Okay, sure, but you’re paying.”   
  
I chuckle. “Of course. I’m a gentleman.”   
  
“Uh huh,” Margo says. “So when are we going?”   
  
“Tonight? Seven o’clock. I’ll pick you up.” Those contracts be damned.   
  
“What kind of car do you drive?”   
  
“An ’84 Chevy.”   
  
“In that case I’ll pick  _you_ up. I won’t be caught dead in that thing.”   
  
“Hey, it was my first car. I’m a little sentimental.”   
  
“I can tell. Betcha even named it too.”   
  
“I did, but nothing cheesy, I swear.”   
  
“Surreeee.”   
  
We are still bantering when Ridge comes in and demands to know if he’s paying us to stand around making eyes at each other. We smother down smiles and go in our separate directions. I will see her tonight and I have a feeling it will be fun; just what I need to cut loose for a change. And who knows, maybe it could turn into something more. But there is no way I’m banking on that. For now, I’m just going to enjoy it for what it is.


End file.
